Box Office: ‘Wicked’ Makes Huge $19.2 Million in Previews, ‘Gladiator II’ Has $6.5 Million

Just like “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” combined last year for the box office juggernaut of “Barbenheimer,” Universal’s musical “Wicked” and Paramount’s action epic “Gladiator II” will try to create “Glicked” this weekend.

So far, “Wicked” has made $19.2 million in previews at the box office. It also benefited from some early fan screenings — that includes $2.5 million from Monday showings, $5.7 million from Wednesday advances and $11 million on Thursday. “Gladiator II” made $6.5 million in Thursday previews. To compare to “Barbenheimer” last summer, “Barbie” made $22.3 million in Thursday previews, while “Oppenheimer” brought in $10.5 million.

Director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, is expected to be one of the biggest opening weekends of the year. “Wicked” is on track for $100 million to $110 million, with some estimates as high as $130 million. After months of TV spots, pink-and-green promotional items and Grande hosting “Saturday Night Live,” the “Wicked” box office projections have grown steadily after initially coming in at the $80 million mark.

The musical will have no trouble going down in history as the biggest debut for a Broadway adaptation, which currently belongs to 2014’s “Into the Woods” with $31 million. Next year will see the second half of the story come to life when “Wicked Part 2” arrives in theaters. Each movie cost $150 million to produce, so the massive opening will be singing an upbeat tune at the box office.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II” — the other half of the so-called “Glicked” — is projected to open with around $65 million. The sequel follows the events of Scott’s hit 2000 ancient Roman epic and stars an A-list cast that includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen and more. With a budget of $250 million and approximately another $100 million to promote, “Gladiator II” will need to slash away at the global box office to be a major success.